McCain Suggests Andrew Cuomo for SEC; “Hell No” Says Reason

September 22, 2008

Maybe John McCain is taking seriously the recent poll that showed him closing on Obama in New York. On “60 Minutes” last night, he suggested NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo would make a fine replacement for Christopher Cox at the SEC.

Cuomo’s response to Newsday‘s follow-up — “It would be inappropriate to comment because of our ongoing investigations into short selling during last week’s market turmoil, as well as other market investigations we are currently conducting in conjunction with the SEC” — shows just the kind of all-business attitude that could put Cuomo over with Republicans. But Reason magazine objects, or rather says “Hell No.”

The libertarian pub quotes Robert George and the Voice‘s Wayne Barrett, who suggest that Cuomo’s tenure as HUD Secretary under Clinton helped cause the current financial crisis: In Barrett’s words, Cuomo “helped plunge Fannie and Freddie into the subprime markets without putting in place the means to monitor their increasingly risky investments.”

Cuomo will be at his regional office in Binghamton this afternoon to announce a new consumer protection initiative. Meanwhile, at the Daily News, Elizabeth Benjamin notices the tendency of ex-Cuomo staffers to become lobbyists.